Headaches | A Warning Sign of Something Far More Dangerous?

Nine out of ten Americans suffer from headaches. So how do you avoid being one of the nine out of ten? A report released in 2001 by researchers at the Duke University Evidence-Based Practice Center in Durham, NC, found that spinal adjustments resulted in almost immediate improvement for those headaches that originate in the neck, and had signiﬁcantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication.

Also, in a 1995 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that spinal adjustments are an effective treatment for tension headaches and that those who ceased chiropractic treatment after four weeks experienced a sustained therapeutic beneﬁt in contrast with those patients who received a commonly prescribed medication.

The vertebrae of the spine ﬁt together on moving joints that provide strength to the spine and maintain the vertebrae in proper position. The joints of the spine in the neck are richly supplied with nerve ﬁbers that can cause pain in the head and neck if the joints are strained or injured.

Today, more than ever before in history, people tend to sit for hours with contracted postural muscles without much physical activity. Once it has produced stiffness and shortening of the muscles in the neck, the joints of the spine are no longer properly stabilized or supported. The affected joints of the spine become subluxated (misaligned). This causes strain and injury to the joints and supporting ligament tissue. The result of the combined subluxation, ligament strain and joint injury is often neck pain with associated headache. This damage to your nervous system not only causes symptoms such as headaches but can also causes organs to malfunction.